Madam Speaker, honestly, I cannot say that I am happy to speak today on the motion tabled by the official opposition. This is not the first time that I have criticized apparent conflicts of interests, flagrant iniquities against ordinary taxpayers by the current government.
I need only mention the Pearson Airport episode. There was even one Liberal, alleged be the revenue minister's father, who said that there were plenty of apparent conflicts of interests and shady dealings that should be investigated. And this is not from a Bloc member but from the father of the current Minister of Revenue, a very well-known Liberal named Nixon, who had made that recommendation to the government. The government did not pay heed. It was as if he had not said anything.
I remember the then Minister of Transport, who said that it was no use to dig up such things. And yet, they dig up things when they
find a low income earner who defrauded unemployment insurance of $200. They will pursue him even into his grave. It is worth their while to dig up such things. But matters involving billions of dollars is only wheeling and dealing.
The Pearson deal is not the only example. Do the members across the way remember Power DirecTv? A decision was reversed even though it had been taken by the authorities responsible for overseeing these things. The Cabinet changed it. It just happened that there were people at Power DirecTv who were close to the Prime Minister and his entourage.
In the case of Ginn Publishing, they did not even wait for the lawyer's report to again return things to friends of the government party and its leaders.
I could go on and on. I remember a minister who was in Los Angeles at one time and who came to ensure that Canadians had truly taken control of a film distribution company. He was ready to swear and put in writing that this company was really a Canadian company.
There are many examples, and everything leads us to believe that there will be others.
The Standing Committee on Finance. I was watching the Liberals pull out their hair earlier: the Standing Committee on Finance has decided this; the Standing Committee on Finance does not want to know anything, it does not want to find anything, as in the case of Pearson Airport. There is none so blind as he who will not see. This is the case of the Standing Committee on Finance. If the members opposite can convince other Canadians of this, it is their problem. But, as the member for Saint-Jean said, I am not sure they will not get their comeuppance royally in the next election, as other parties that have done similar but not such bad things as this, I would say. With some 177 seats, a government can devise laws benefiting the wealthy, and the opposition, official or not, can do nothing about it. That is what has happened in the three years since the government came into power. It is a shame involving everybody.
We come here to implore the common sense of independent experts, of six independent experts who probably were involved in a series of decisions, the one taken on 23 December 1991 in particular. They were at the party held on December 23, and we are asking them if, in their opinion, everything was done according to the rules. My colleague called that a just application of tax equity. The government is not even trying to give an appearance of clearness and cleanliness. It does not care. "We are too strong, they will never dare to destroy us, because we are the ones who decide in the end." And even the Minister of Finance said: "I do have a family trust." Indeed, and it is made up of taxable Canadian property. The day he sends his ships for a trip in the South with the intention of not bringing them back, how will we look, since he is the Minister of Finance?
That is almost what happened with the $2 billion. Can you imagine how much tax $2 billion represents? "No, we cannot do it because this is a friend. Scratch my back, I will scratch yours". That is how it works across the way.
At one point, Canadians will have to realize that they are being bamboozled as they have never been in the history of Canada. We have already seen governments making timid attempts, but today, we are seeing people taking the cash and laughing all the way to the banks-overseas. Two billion dollars! It does not make any bloody sense at all.
Still today, I thought that the haemorrhage had been staunched, but no. Today, we saw in the auditor general's report that there is still $630 million worth of loopholes of all kinds. We are not talking about petty thieves, but about big tobacco companies. It is all the same gang. When we dig a little bit, we can find the connections. People will attend a $3,000 a place fundraising dinner to have a look at the Prime Minister and have the opportunity to rub shoulders with him in the men's room.
It is terrible to say, but when you are on the government's side, no threat of any kind can rattle you, not even from the auditor general. That man was demolished. It is as simple as that. If you do not like the message, just shoot the messenger.
Not only must laws be implemented in a fair and reasonable way, but they must appear to be implemented in a fair and reasonable way, just as with justice. We operate under the rule of law, like the justice minister said this morning, and the courts established the rule of law long ago. Not only must justice be administered, but it must appear to have been administered. But appearances do not matter in this case. Old chums received a little help, and I would not be surprised if not many family trusts were left.
A provision that was reasonable and, in a certain way, logical was used ill-advisedly, it was used in a way not intended originally. It is all a sort of institutionalized misappropriation of funds with the wealthy members of society, who make off with the money, the next one with his boats, no doubt, it is probably one of the last remaining, but an inquiry must be called.
When the truth is what you want, you do what is necessary to obtain it. An independent inquiry, a royal commission if necessary, must be called, and independent experts brought in, not those who took part in the ruling. The RCMP should be involved, and the bank accounts of those who had anything to do with this ruling scrutinized closely.
When you want to find something, you look for it. In this case, they do not want to find anything, and so they are not looking. They are saying: "This is just a bunch of separatists who have stumbled over something. Nothing to worry about. The people of Newfoundland, westerners and easterners will never dare to believe separatists, so the way is clear. We can have the rink to ourselves and do as we please". That is what is scandalous about this affair, and the Liberals can tell me what they like, but it is not going to wash. It will not wash. Something stinks in this business and we will not let up until we find out what it is.